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A 


MEMOIR 


OF 


E^tO 

■%n 

®4 

1*3* 


JOHN  ARCH, 


A  CHEROKEE  YOUNG  MAN. 


COMPILED  FROM  COMMUNICATIONS  OF  MISSIONARIES 


IN  THE 


CHEROKEE  NATION. 


MASSACHUSETTS  SA 

Depository  No. 


TY. 


REVISED  BY  THE 


PUBLIS 


18  3  8 


t» 


Entered  according-  to  act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  I83G,  by 
CHRISTOPHER  C.  HE  AN, 
m  Iho  Clerk’s  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  Massachusetts. 


The  subject  bf  this  memoir  was  converted 
from  heathenism  through  the  preaching  of 
American  Missionaries,  and  died  in  the  faith 
and  hope  of  the  Gospel.  The  reader  will  find 
in  his  history  a  proof  of  the  excellent  influence 
which  Missionaries  may  be  expected  to  exert 
wherever  they  shall  be  sent  among  the  be¬ 
nighted  millions  of  pagans.  The  authenticity 
of  the  narrative  may  be  depended  on  by  the 
reader. 


1* 


MEMOIR 


OF 

JOHN  ARCH, 

A  CHEROKEE  YOUNG  MAN. 


John  Arch*  was  bom  about  the  year 
1797,  in  a  part  of  the  Cherokee  country, 
called  Nun-ti-ya-lee ,  which  is  surrounded  by 
almost  impassable  mountains.  There  also, 
he  spent  the  years  of  his  childhood  and  youth. 
His  mother  died  when  he  was  very  young, 
and  his  father  taught  him  scarcely  any  thing 
except  to  hunt  deer  and  other  wild  animals  of 

*  John’s  Cherokee  name  was  Atsee ;  on  which  account,  it  is 
presumed,  the  English  name  Arch ,  of  similar  sound,  was 
given  him  by  the  white  residents  in  the  Cherokee  nation. 
The  origin  of  his  other  English  name  was  probably  as  ac¬ 
cidental. 


B 


MEMOIR  OF 


the  forest.  This  was  his  father’s  occupa¬ 
tion. 

The  old  man,  when  traveling  through  the 
woods  in  search  of  game,  used  to  cany  his 
son  on  his  back,  and  on  discovering  a  deer, 
would  stop  and  make  the  little  boy  look  over 
his  shoulder  till  he  could  see  the  animal,  and 
then  would  creep  up  and  shoot  it,  with  John 
still  on  his  back.  As  the  son  grew  older,  and 
became  expert  in  discovering  deer  at  a  dis- 
.  tance,  the  father  would  sometimes  rest  his  gun 
on  a  bush  or  log,  and  make  him  shoot  them. 
Thus  John  killed  several  deer  before  he  could 

if  # 

raise  a  gun  to  his  face,  or  walk  alone  through 
the  woods. 

As  soon  as  he  could  run  about,  and  take 
some  care  of  himself,  his  father  used  to  leave 
him  all  day  at  the  hunting  camp ;  and  though 
he  generally  returned  in  the  evening,  he  would 
sometimes  be  absent  through  the  night.  .  John 
amused  himself  by  shooting  turkies  with  a  little 
gun  his  father  had  bought  for  him,  always  taking 
oare  not  to  go  out  of  sight  of  the  camp. 

When  he  had  become  fully  instructed  in 


JOHN  ARCH.  9 

the  art  of  hunting,  and  old  enough  to  travel 

O'  O 

all  day  through  the  woods  with  a  gun  on  his 
back,  his  father  bought  him  a  good  rifle,  and 
bade  him  seek  his  own  support.  He  was  re¬ 
markably  successful  in  hunting,  always  killing 
more  game  than  his  companions/*  and  re¬ 
ceived  a  great  deal  of  praise  whenever  he  re¬ 
turned  to  the  village.  The  last  year  which  he 
spent  as  a  hunter,  however,  he  had  a  poor  gun, 
and  then  his  companions  succeeded  better  than  *' 
himself,  which  so  mortified  him  that  he  was 
ashamed  to  return  home,  and  resolved  to  hunt 
no  more.  In  speaking  of  this  period  of  his  life,  * 
five  vears  afterwards,  he  said  the  world  then 
appeared  empty  and  vain,  and  life  seemed  a 
burden.  A  deep  melancholy  seized  upon  his 
spirits,  and  nothing  could  afford  him  relief. — 
This  was  in  the  year  1818,  when  he  was  about 
twenty-one  years  of  age. 

Coin ^  soon  after  with  several  of  his  coun- 

o 

trymen,  to  Knoxville,  in  East  Tennessee,  he 

*  It  is  customary  for  several  to  hunt  in  company,  though 
each  retained  without  division  whatever  game  he  had  him¬ 
self  acquired. 


10 


MEMOIR  OF 


there  met,  incidentally,  one  of  the  assistant 
missionaries  among  the  Cherokees.  The 
missionary  soon  perceived  that  John  was  de¬ 
sirous  of  learning  to  read,  and  advised  him  to 
apply  for  admission  to  the  school  at  Brainerd. 
He  was  so  much  interested  in  the  prospects 
thus  opened  before  him,  that  he  could  not. 
wait  to  revisit  his  home,  but  traveled  through 
the  woods,  nearly  a  hundred  miles,  to  the  late 
Mr.  Hick’s,  well  known  to  the  patrons  of  the 
Cherokee  mission  as  an  excellent  Christian 
chief,  and  there  inquired  the  way  to  the  mission - 
*  ary  school. 

His  dress  and  appearance,  when  he  came  to 
Brainerd,  showed  at  once  that  he  belonged  to 
the  most  uncultivated  portion  of  his  tribe  ;  and 
he  had  spent  so  many  years  in  savage  life* 
that  the  missionaries  received  his  application 
with  reluctance  :  but  having  heard  his  story,, 
and  noticed  the  marks  of  intelligence  which 
his  countenance  exhibited,  they  consented  to 
take  him  on  trial.  He  informed  them  that, 
having  lived  on  the  borders  of  North  Caro¬ 
lina,  and  near  the  white  people,  he  had  at- 


I 


JOHNARCH.  15 

tended  school  a  short  time  when  quite  young, 
and  had  learned  the  letters  of  the  alphabet. 
After  his  removal  from  school,  he  studied  his 
spelling-book  till  it  was  wrorn  out,  and  had 
ever  since  desired  to  learn  to  read  ;  but  being 
too  poor  to  support  himself  at  school,  and  hav¬ 
ing  worn  out  his  book,  he  had  relinquished  the 
hope  of  learning,  and  nearly  forgotten  all  that 
he  had  known. 

He  once  traveled  to  Washington,  wdiere 
he  received  some  tokens  of  kindness  from 
Mr.  Madison,  then  President  of  the  United 
States  :  but  it  wras  the  state  of  despondency, 
into  which  he  had  been  thrown  by  his  un- 
prosperous  pursuit  of  the  chase  during  one 
whole  hunting  season,  which  was  the  prin¬ 
cipal  cause  of  his  looking  for  enjoyment  be¬ 
yond  the  confines  of  his  native  forests  ;  and 
it  was  his  interview  with  the  missionary  at 
Knoxville,  which  had  led  him  to  determine 
on  cultivating  his  mind  at  school.  He  said, 
he  had  never  before  been  in  the  part  of  the 
9  nation  where  the  school  was  situated,  nor  had 
he  heard  of  the  school,  till  informed  of  it  in 


12  MEMOIR  OF 

the  manner  above  stated ;  but  lie  had  come 
with  the  intention  of  remaining,  if  possible. 

His  views  on  religious  subjects,  before  and 
after  his  coming  to  Brainerd,  as  he  subsequently 
described  them  to  one  of  the  missionaries,  were 
as1  follows  : 

He  always  believed,  that  there  was  a 
“  Great  Being  above.”  hut  supposed  he  took 
little  or  no  notice  of  his  creatures  here  below. 
With  regard  to  man,  his  prevailing  impression 
was,  that  when  he  died  he  ceased  to  exist, 
and  that  there  was  no  future  state,  tie  had 
heard  it  said,  however,  that  men  lived  after 
death,  and  that  the  good  went  to  a  place  of 
happiness,  and  the  bad  to  a  place  of  misery, 
and  he  sometimes  thought  this  might  be  true. 
But  he  was  persuaded,  he  said,  if  this  was  true, 
he  must  go  to  the  place  of  misery,  for  he  was 
bad,  and  had  no  idea  that  his  character  could 
be  changed. 

Not  long  after  his  coming  to  Brainerd,  he 
was  convinced  that  there  was  a  future  state 
of  rewards  and  punishments,  but  he  saw  not  * 
how  any,  who  had  been  once  sinners,  could 


JOHN  ARCH. 


13 


be  pardoned  and  saved.  On  this  account,  he 
became  very  much  distressed,  and  the  more  he 
saw  of  his  own  sinfulness  the  more  distressed 
he  was ;  until  he  began  to  wish  he  had  never 
known  any  of  these  things. 

He  had,  indeed,  heard  the  missionaries  say, 
that  the  greatest  of  sinners  could  be  saved 
through  the  blood  of  Christ,  but  he  did  not 
believe  it.  In  his  apprehension  it  seemed 
plain  that  the  sinner  could  not  become  holy, 
and  thuj^gain  admittance  to  heaven.  When, 
howey^r,  the  method  of  salvation,  as  revealed 
in  tlfe  Gospel,  and  exemplified  in  the  experi¬ 
ence  of  good  men,  was  more  fully  explained 
to  him,  he  saw  his  error.  But  perceiving  in 
himself  a  repugnance  to  this  method,  that  re¬ 
pugnance  seemed  to  him  more  criminal  than  all 
his  other  sins,  and  his  distress  became  almost 
insupportable. 

One  whole  night  he  lay  awake,  as  he  said, 
expecting  sudden  destruction,  and  such  was 
his  terror,  that  he  trembled  all  the  while  (to 
use  his  own  comparison)  like  one  in  an  ague. 
But  in  the  morning  a  new  scene  opened. 


14 


MEMOIR  OF 


Then  the  way  of  salvation  through  the  Lord 
Jesus  appeared  perfectly  reasonable,  and  ex¬ 
actly  suited  to  his  case  ;  and  the  thought  of 
being  saved  in  that  way,  and  in  no  other, 
gave  him  unspeakable  joy.  “From  that 
time,”  says  one  of  the  missionaries  who  knew 
him  well,  “  John  Arch  lived  a  consistent 
Christian.” 

Near  the  close  of  the  year  1819,  ten 
months  after  John  entered  the  school,  his 
father  come  to  take  him  home,  and  was  not 
easily  diverted  from  his  purpose.  He  was  un¬ 
willing  that  his  son  should  be  so  far  from  him. 
This  was  a  season  of  severe  trial  to  John. 
He  loved  his  father,  and  was  desirous  to 
please  him  ;  he  loved  his  Savior,  also,  and  was 
willing  to  leave  all  for  his  sake.  Anxiety  to 
be  qualified  for  usefulness  among  his  country¬ 
men,  was  his  ruling  passion.  Happily  the 
old  man,  after  spending  several  days  with  the 
missionaries,  was  so  wrought  upon  by  kindness 
and  persuasion,  that  he  consented  to  leave  his 
son  in  the  school. 

About  this  time  there  was  an  occurrence 


JOHN  ARCH. 


15 


which  strongly  developed  the  character  of 
this  young  man.  One  of  his  schoolmates 
wrongfully  accused  him  of  doing  an  improper 
act.  Conscious  of  innocence,  and  yet  not 
having  the  means  of  exculpation  at  command, 
he  could  not  well  brook  the  charge.  That 
evening  and  night  he  was  missing,  and  it  was 
supposed  he  had  absconded.  But  in  the 
course  of  the  forenoon,  he  made  his  appear¬ 
ance.  On  being  informed  that  the  rules  of 
the  school  made  it  necessary  for  him  to  as¬ 
sign  the  reasons  of  his  absence,  he  said  : — 
“  I  felt  angry,  and  knew  that  it  was  wicked  ; 
but  l  could  not  suppress  it  ;  I  therefore  went  to 
the  Savior,  that  he  might  reconcile  my  heart.” 
He  had  spent  the  night  in  devotional  exer¬ 
cises. 

Being  now  able  to  read  and  write  with 
tolerable  correctness,  and  possessing  naturally 
a  good  judgment,  John  was  employed,  with 
another  young  Cherokee,  to  assist  one  of 
the  missionaries  in  preparing  an  elementary 
school-book  in  the  Cherokee  language,  which 


16 


MEMOIR  OF 


was  afterwards  printed.  About  the  same  time, 
he  was  examined  by  the  mission  church  as  to 
his  religious  attainments,  and  was  admitted  a 
candidate  for  Christian  baptism.  In  Decem¬ 
ber,  before  the  rite  was  administered,  a  benevo¬ 
lent  clergyman  of  East  Tennessee  came  to 
Brainerd  on  a  visit,  and,  hearing  the  story  of 
John  Arch,  was  so  much  interested  that  he  ex¬ 
pressed  a  desire  to  take  John  into  his  family, 
and  to  give  him  the  benefit  of  his  private  in¬ 
structions,  and  also  of  a  respectable  school  in 
the  place  where  he  resided. 

John  referred  the  whole  subject  to  the  mis¬ 
sionaries,  whom  he  regarded,  he  said,  as  his 
fathers, Fand  whose  direction  he  should  gladly 
follow.  It  being  thought  best  for  him  to  go, 
he  accompanied  the  gentleman  to  Tennessee. 
The  clergyman  and  his  lady  showed  him 
every  kindness,  and  secured  his  confidence 
and  affection  ;  and  so  far  as  they  were  con¬ 
cerned,  he  said  it  would  have  been  pleasant 
to  reside  with  them.  But  he  was  so  shocked 
by  the  profaneness  of  some  white  men  in  the 
place,  that,  finding  he  could  not  remain  with- 


JOHN  ARCH. 


17 


out  bearing  the  name  of  God  continually  blas¬ 
phemed,  he  returned  abruptly  to  Brainerd. 

Early  in  the  year  1820,  it  was  proposed 
that  John,  with  one  or  two  other  promising 
Cherokees,  should  be  removed  to  the  Foreign 
M  ission  School  at  Cornwall,  Conn.  ;  but  he 
not  being  willing  to  leave  the  land  of  his 
fathers,  the  plan,  so  far  as  it  regarded  him,  was 
relinquished. 

In  February,  he  passed  through  a  second 
examination  before  the  church,  particularly 
with  respect  to  the  nature  and  design  of  bap¬ 
tism  ;  and  the  members  being  fully  satisfied 
as  to  his  knowledge  of  the  doctrines  of  the 
Gospel,  and  as  to  the  genuineness  of  his  piety, 
he  was  baptized  on  the  20th.  On  that  occa¬ 
sion,  the  missionaries  made  these  remarks  : — 
“  When  we  consider  the  manner  of  his  com¬ 
ing  among  us,  but  little  more  than  a  year  ago, 
from  the  most  distant  and  most  ignorant  part 
of  his  tribe,  having  no  one  to  encourage  him, 
and  having  barely  heard  that  there  were  peo¬ 
ple  here  who  would  teach  him  ;  and  when 
we  think,  also,  of  his  diligence  and  study,  the 
2* 


18 


MEMOIR  OF 


progress  he  has  made,  and  his  apparent  de¬ 
votedness  to  God ;  we  are  led  to  hope,  that, 
in  due  time,  he  will  prove  a  blessing  to  his 
people.” 

It  having  been  resolved  to  establish  a  school 
at  Creekpalh,  about  one  hundred  miles  west  of 
Brainerd,  Mr.  Butrick  was  appointed  to  that 
service,  and  was  permitted  to  take  John  Arch 
with  him  as  an  assistant.  On  the  18th  of 
March,  they  arrived  at  the  place  of  their  des¬ 
tination,  and  lodged  in  the  dwelling  of  the  father 
of  Catharine  Brown. 

The  Cherokees  commenced  the  prepara¬ 
tions  they  had  engaged  to  make  for  a  school 
with  promptness,  and  conducted  them  with 
zeal,  and  a  school  was  soon  opened  with  the 
fairest  prospects.  The  people  of  all  ages 
seemed  anxious  to  learn,  and  some  were  dis¬ 
posed  to  serious  inquiry  as  to  their  spiritual  in¬ 
terests.  John  was  wholly  devoted  to  his  work, 
and  pursued  it  with  judgment,  intelligence,  and 
delightful  animation. 

The  calls  upon  Mr.  Butrick  as  a  minister 
of  the  Gospel,  became  at  length  so  numerous 


JOHN  ARCH. 


19 


and  urgent,  that  he  found  it  necessary  to  com¬ 
mit  the  business  of  elementary  instruction  in  the 
school,  very  much  to  his  Cherokee  assistant. 
As  John  was  thus  deprived  of  time  to  cultivate 
his  own  mind  by  study,  he  was  sent  to  Brainerd 
to  ascertain  if  assistance  could  not  be  afforded 
them.  This  application  led  to  the  sending  of 
Catharine  Brown  to  Creekpath,  as  is  described 
in  her  Memoir. 

John  returned  to  Brainerd  in  the  autumn 
of  1820,  and  soon  afterwards  visited  his  father 
and  other  relatives.  The  sight  of  their  moral 
degradation  called  up  the  tenderest  feelings 
of  his  heart,  and  he  warned  them  of  the 
scenes  and  events  of  a  future  world.  At 
first,  he  was  listened  to  with  a  silent  amaze¬ 
ment,  then  with  uneasiness,  and  at  length 
some  left  the  house.  He  then  proposed 
prayer,  and  while  he  was  praying  others  re¬ 
tired,  till  he  was  left  almost  alone.  These 
things  greatly  discouraged  him,  and  for  a 
time  he  knew  not  what  to  do.  But  he  finally 
resolved  to  be  familiar  and  cheerful  in  his 
address,  whenever  he  went  among  his  people, 


so 


MEMOIR  OF 


and  to  converse  respecting  their  hunting  and 
other  customary  avocations  until  he  had  se¬ 
cured  their  confidence,  and  then  to  introduce 
divine  subjects  as  they  were  able  to  bear 
them.  During  this  visit,  he  attended  a  meet¬ 
ing  of  the  Presbytery  and  Missionary  Society 
of  North  Carolina,  on  which  occasion  he  had 
the  privilege  of  sitting  at  the  Lord’s  table  with 
above  five  hundred  Christian  brethren.  He  ex¬ 
cited  considerable  interest,  and  the  people  made 
him  a  valuable  present,  and  also  Constituted 
him  a  member  for  life  of  their  Missionary  So¬ 
ciety. 

John  returned  to  Brainerd  early  in  No¬ 
vember,  and  at  the  close  of  the  month  re¬ 
paired  again  to  Creekpath,  at  the  earnest  so¬ 
licitation  of  Mr.  Butrick,  who  needed  his  assist¬ 
ance. 

About  this  time,  he  had  the  satisfaction  of 
witnessing  an  important  step  taken  by  his 
people  in  the  career  of  improvement.  The  na¬ 
tional  council  "divided  their  country  into  eight 
districts  or  counties,  appointed  four  circuit 
judges,  laid  a  general  tax  to  build  a  court-house 


JOHN  ARCH. 


21 


in  each  district,  and  took  such  other  measures 
as  were  deemed  necessary  to  facilitate  and  se¬ 
cure  the  administration  of  justice.  This  in¬ 
cipient  jurisprudence  secured  the  respect  of  the 
people.  The  council  also  engaged  to  fur¬ 
nish  such  of  the  young  men  of  the  nation  as 
should  learn  any  trade,  with  a  set  of  appropri¬ 
ate  tools,  as  soon  as  tfyey  were  qualified  to  com¬ 
mence  business. 

When  Mr.  Potter  took  charge  of  the  sta¬ 
tion  at  Creekpath,  in  January,  1821,  John 
Arch  returned  to  Brainerd,  with  Mr.  Butrick, 
•  and  remained  there  until  October,  when  he 
again  went  to  Creekpath  at  the  request  of 
Mr.  Potter.  While  at  Brainerd,  besides  pur¬ 
suing  his  studies  attentively,  and  interpret¬ 
ing  a  discourse  on  the  Sabbath,  he  usually, 
after  sermon,  read  a  chapter  to  the  people, 
translating  it  into  the  Cherokee  language  as 
he  went  along,  and  making  remarks  upon  it. — 
These  remarks  were  very  appropriate  and 
edifying  to  the  Cherokees.  Old  Mr.  Mc¬ 
Daniel,  a  respectable  and  intelligent  white 
man,  and  grandfather  to  the  present  principal 


22 


MEMOIR  OF 


chief,  was  well  versed  in  the  Cherokee  lan¬ 
guage.  He  often  said  that  John’s  knowledge 
of  the  Scriptures  was  truly  astonishing,  and 
that  there  was  something  great  in  that  young 
man. 

In  January,  1822,  he  accompanied  Mr. 
Butrick  on  a  tour  of  two  months  to  some 
of  the  most  important  places  in  the  nation. — 
Tours  of  this  kind  formed  his  principal  em¬ 
ployment  during  the  remainder  of  his  life. — 
The  distance  traveled  in  this,  was  above  five 
hundred  miles.  John  was  now  'brought  into 
close  connection  with  the  missionaries  as  in-  , 
terpreler  ;  an  employment  for  which  he  was 
well  qualified  by  his  good  sense,  his  sound 
judgment,  his  acquaintance  with  the  Gospel, 
his  familiarity  with  the  English  and  Cherokee 
languages,  and  the  deep  interest  he  felt  in 
the  present  and  eternal  welfare  of  his  country-  . 
men. 

During  the  summer  and  autumn  of  this 
year,  beside  his  other  journeys,  he  accom¬ 
panied  Mr.  Chamberlain  on  preaching  tours 
of  about  a  thousand  miles.  On  one  of  these 


JOHN  ARCH. 


23 


tours  they  called  at  Willstown,  near  the  east¬ 
ern  limits  of  the  State  of  Alabama,  where  they 
made  arrangements  for  a  school.  In  the  winter 
he  accompanied  Mr.  C.  again  to  that  place, 
and  assisted  the  people  in  erecting  the  neces¬ 
sary  buildings. 

He  also  engaged  in  active  measures  with  a 
view  to  another  station  farther  east,  near  the 
E-tow-ee,  or  Hightower  river,  and  about  seven¬ 
ty-five  miles  from  Brainerd.  He  made  one  or 
two  journeys  to  the  place,  in  order  to  consult 
with  the  chiefs  and  other  leading  men.  Wicked 
t  white  men  had  taken  much  pains  to  prejudice 
and  mislead  the  minds  of  this  people,  and  to 
some  extent  had  succeeded  ;  but  John  finally 
made  them  understand  and  pursue  their  best  in¬ 
terests. 

During  the  winter,  he  accompanied  Mr. 
Chamberlin  in  several  tours  for  evangelical 
labor.  In  one  of  them,  having  gone  as  far 
as  Willstown,  he  left  Mr.  C.  and  proceeded 
alone  to  Creekpath,  whence  he  accompanied 
Catharine  Brown  and  some  others  of  kindred 
spirit  to  Brainerd.  He  said  that,  on  this  oc- 


24 


MEMOIR  OF 


casion,  he  distinctly  perceived  a  gradual  in¬ 
crease  of  religious  light  among  the  people,  as 
he  approached  a  missionary  station,  and  a 
gradual  diminution  as  he  receded,  until  at  con¬ 
siderable  distances,  he  often  seemed  to  have 
come  into  total  darkness.  But,  he  added,  the 
people  every  where  have  a  disposition  to  hear 
the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  and  he  greatly  de¬ 
sired  to  spend  his  days  in  proclaiming  it  to 
them.  He  was  willing  to  devote  his  life  to  the 
employment  of  interpreter,  if  that  was  best  ; 
but  he  would  do  any  thing  in  his  power  to 
become  qualified  to  be  himself  a  minister  of  the 
Gospel. 

In  the  spring  of  1823,  a  missionary  sta¬ 
tion  was  commenced  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Samuel  J.  Mills,  (a  converted  Cherokee  of 
great  zeal  and  activity,)  and  called  Haweis. 
The  agency  of  John  Arch  was  employed, 
though  to  a  less  extent  than  in  respect  to 
the  stations  above  mentioned,  the  previous 
agency  of  Mills  having  rendered  it  unneces¬ 
sary. 

There  is  no  doubt  but  he  was  active  and 


JOHNARCH.  25 

W  ■■  t 

useful  during  all  the  following  summer,  but 
nothing  worthy  of  notice  is  recorded.  In 
October,  he  made  a  circuit  through  the 
eastern  part  of  the  nation,  on  a  visit  to  his 
relatives  and  the  friends  of  his  early  years. — 
He  was  delighted  to  see  the  change,  which 
had  taken  place  among  them,  since  his  visit 
a  year  before.  He  no  longer  found  them 

■ 

averse  to  instruction.  The  inmates  of  almost 
every  cabin  were  disposed  to  serious  inquiry. — 
He  declared  that  the  Cherokees  in  all  that 
part  of  the  nation  were  ready  to  receive  the 
Gospel  ;  and  so  animated  was  he  by  the  dis¬ 
covery,  that  he  desired  to  go  and  spend  a 
year  among  his  countrymen  in  the  wilderness 
of  the  Arkansas,  to  assist  in  making  them  ready 
also. 

He  returned  to  Brainerd  by  way  of  New¬ 
town,  or  New  Echota,  the  seat  of  the  Chero¬ 
kee  government,  and  where  the  Cherokee 
printing  establishment  now  is,  and  spent  a 
Sabbath  with  the  national  council,  which  had 
ordered  that  no  business  should  be  done  in 
the  council,  and  no  secular  work  in  the 
3 


26 


MEMOIR  OF 


neighborhood  of  the  council,,  on  the  Sabbath. 
He  said  he  found  every  one  cleanly  dressed  on 
that  day,  and  that  the  observance  was  apparent¬ 
ly  strict  and  solemn. 

He  now  remained  some  months  at  Brainerd, 
assisting  in  the  steward’s  department,  interpret¬ 
ing  on  the  Sabbath,  and  aiding  Mr.  Hoyt  in 
giving  religious  instruction  to  the  Indians  who 
called  during  the  week. 

Some  time  in  the  winter,  going  to  Wills- 
town  on  business,  he  wept  when  Mr.  Cham¬ 
berlin  told  him  how  much  he  was  needed 
there.  John  said  it  was  the  same  at  every  sta¬ 
tion,  and  felt  anxious  to  help  all.  When 
he  returned  to  Brainerd  he  could  not  rest  till 
he  had  obtained  leave  of  the  brethren  to  spend 
some  weeks  at  Willstown.  He  told  Mr.  C. 
he  could  not  get  the  people  of  Willstown 
out  of  his  mind,  night  or  day.  A  meeting 
was  appointed  for  the  evening  after  his 
arrival.  Many  attended,  and  a  very  great 
solemnity  was  visible  on  the  countenances 
of  all  present.  John  was  heartily  engaged 
in  promoting  the  salvation  of  the  people 


JOHN  ARCH. 


27 


during  the  whole  time  of  his  residence  at  the 
station,  and  a  number  of  hopeful  conversions 
occurred.  This  was  the  commencement  of  the 
church  at  Willstown. 

And  here  it  should  be  remarked,  that  John 
Arch  was  the  instrument  through  which  the 
word  was  conveyed  to  the  understandings,  and 
proved  effectual  to  the  conversion,  of  both  of 
those  eminent  Cherokee  servants  of  the  Lord, 
John  Huss  and  Samuel  J.  Mills. 

In  the  spring  of  1824,  the  subject  of  this 
memoir  accompanied  Mr.  Evarts,  the  Cor¬ 
responding  Secretary  of  the  Board,  to  sev¬ 
eral  places  in  the  Cherokee  nation,  and 
through  a  part  of  Alabama  and  Mississippi  to 
Mayhew  in  the  Choctaw  nation.  During 
this  journey  of  four  hundred  miles,  or  more, 
in  the  course  of  which  visits  were  made  to  a 
considerable  number  of  families  in  the  white 
settlements,  to  several  missionary  stations, 
and  to  many  of  his  own  people,  he  was  every 
where  treated  with  respect,  and  every  where 
left  a  favorable  impression  of  his  character. 


28 


MEMOIR  OF 


He  was  a  pattern  of  mildness  and  amiableness, 
in  his  whole  conduct. 

John  spent  the  summer  at  Creekpath  inter¬ 
preting  for  Mr.  Potter  on  the  Sabbath  ;  and 
as  Mr.  Potter  was  then  busily  employed  in 
erecting  buildings,  John  was  left  to  labor  much 
of  the  time  alone  among  the  people,  which  he 
did  by  going  from  house  to  house.  He  met, 
however,  with  many  discouragements,  on  ac¬ 
count  of  a  sectarian  spirit  which  then  prevailed 
in  that  place.  He  sometimes  thought  he  was 
laboring  entirely  in  vain.  But  he  was  enabled 
to  make  some  abiding  impressions  ;  and  the 
church  at  Creekpath  is  now,  doubtless,  enjoy¬ 
ing  the  benefit  of  his  prayers  and  labors  at  that 
time. 

At  the  close  of  the  year,  he  went  to  Wills- 
town,  to  travel  as  interpreter  with  Mr.  Cham¬ 
berlin  who  resided  at  that  station.  This  con¬ 
nection  subsisted  till  his  fatal  illness  left  him  no 
longer  the  ability  to  labor  for  the  good  of  his 
beloved  people. 

The  disease  of  which  he  died,  which  was 
the  dropsy,  began  to  assume  a  serious  aspect 


JOHN  ARCH. 


‘29 


in  February,  1825  ;  when  he  found  himself 
unable  to  render  Mr.  Chamberlin  the  usual  as¬ 
sistance.  He  employed  himself,  however,  in 
translating  the  third  chapter  of  John  into  the 
Cherokee  language.  He  wrote  it  in  the  syllabic 
alphabet  invented  by  George  Guess.  The 
translation  thus  written,  was  received  with  won¬ 
derful  avidity,  and  was  soon  copied,  as  was  sup¬ 
posed,  some  hundreds  of  times,  and  read  by 
multitudes.  All  who  understood  both  languages, 
strongly  approved  of  it. 

In  April  his  health  was  better,  and  he  re¬ 
sumed  his  usual  labors.  He  rode  with  Mr. 
Chamberlin  to  Candy’s  Creek,  eighty-four  miles 
distant,  and  returned  to  Brainerd,  having  con¬ 
siderable  intercourse  with  the  natives  by  the 
way :  but  the  exertion  was  too  great.  At 
Brainerd  he  was  afflicted  with  a  hemorrhage, 
which  constrained  him  to  relinquish,  in  a  great 
measure,  the  hope  of  life  ;  and  he  expressed 
the  wish,  that  he  might  spend  the  residue  of 
his  days  at  that  place.  He  said  he  came 
first  to  Brainerd  ;  there  he  received  his  edu¬ 
cation  ;  there  he  was  brought  to  the  knowl- 
3* 


30 


MEMOIR  OF 


edge  of  the  Savior  ;  and  there  he  desired 
to  die.  He  was  not  left  in  doubt,  as  to  the 
disposition  of  the  missionary  friends  at  that 
station,  to  render  him  every  attention  in  their 
power. 

He  had  not  been  long  there,  before  he  re¬ 
ceived  a  kind  invitation  from  Dr.  Stout,  of 
Athens,  in  Tennessee,  about  sixty  miles  dis¬ 
tant,  to  spend  some  time  under  his  care.  He 
was  accordingly  taken  to  Athens,  and  received 
temporary  relief  from  a  surgical  operation.  But 
the  physician  was  soon  convinced,  that  his 
case  was  hopeless  ;  and  no  soorier  did  John 
learn  this  fact,  than  he  determined,  if  possible, 
to  return  ro  Brainerd. 

He  commenced  the  journey  on  horseback, 
hoping  to  be  able,  in  that  way,  to  travel  four¬ 
teen  miles  to  the  Cherokee  Agency.  The 
motion  of  the  horse,  however  was  too  violent 
for  his  feeble  frame  ;  and,  after  going  six 
miles,  he  was  obliged  to  stop.  It  so  hap¬ 
pened  that  the  family,  in  which  his  lot  was 
now  cast  for  a  week,  knew  his  character,  and 
treated  him  with  the  utmost  kindness.  At 


JOHN  ARCH. 


31 


the  end  of  the  week,  one  of  his  brethren  came 
for  him  from  Brainerd,  and  conducted  him,  by 
easy  stages,  to  that  beloved  spot. 

In  June,  two  days  before  his  death,  he  was 
visited  by  Mr.  Chamberlin,  and  was  greatly 
animated  by  the  interview.  He  told  Mr.  C. 
that  he  had  often  heard  about  ministers  visiting 
the  sick  and  dying,  but  he  never  knew  before 
what  a  comfort  it  was  to  receive  such  a  visit. 
He  declared  repeatedly  to  Mr.  C.  that  he  was 
entirely  willing  to  trust  himself,  in  life  and 
death,  to  the  disposal  of  his  Almighty  Savior. 
Indeed,  his  peace  of  mind  was  uninterrupted  to 
the  last. 

He  died  calmly  on  the  18th  of  June, 
1825.  When  told  just  before  his  decease, 
that  the  pains  he  felt  were  those  of  dissolu¬ 
tion,  and  that  in  a  few  minutes  more  he  would 
be  in  eternity,  his  countenance  indicated  great 
pleasure,  and  raising  his  hand,  he  said,  “  Well, 
it  is  good.”  These  were  the  last  words  he  was 
heard  to  utter. 

He  was  buried  near  the  grave  of  Dr.  Wor- 


% 


32 


MEMOIR  OF 


cester.  His  age  was  about  twenty-eight  years, 
and  seven  years  had  elapsed  from  his  first 
coming  to  Brainerd. 

HIS  CHARACTER. 

After  mentioning  the  death  of  John  Arch, 
his  friend,  Mr.  Chamberlin,  speaks  of  him  in 
the  following  manner  :  “  He,  indeed,  sleeps 

in  the  dust,  but  his  memory  will  ever  be  dear 
to  all  his  missionary  brethren.  He  has  been  a 
warm  friend  to  us,  and  to  the  cause  in  which 
we  are  engaged,  and  his  loss  will  be  severely 
felt.  We  feel  ourselves  admonished  by  this 
stroke.  Perhaps  we  relied  too  much  upon 
him  ;  for  we  almost  felt  that  the  work  could  not 
go  on  without  him.” 

Mr.  Butrick  gives  the  following  testimony  : 
ec  this  dear  brother,  from  his  conversion  till  his 
death,  was  a  general  example  of  piety. — 
Though  he  was  not  perfect,  yet  I  cannot  now 
look  back  upon  his  life,  and  point  out  any 
particular  stain  in  his  Christian  character. — • 
He  appeared  sensible  of  his  obligations  to  do 
what  he  could  for  the  salvation  of  his  people, 


\  / 


JOHN  ARCH.  33 

but  having  less  confidence  in  his  own  judg¬ 
ment,  than  in  that  of  those  who  had  more  ex*- 
perience  than  himself,  he  chose  to  be  direct¬ 
ed  in  his  labors  by  the  proper  authority  of 
the  mission.  And  when  thus  directed,  he  did 
not  complain,  nor  seem  to  suppose  that  his 
opinion  would  have  been  preferable.  In  this 
he  was  a  reproof  to  many  of  his  missionary 
brethren. 

“  He  was  not  inaccessible  to  pride  and 
vanity ;  yet  these  passions  no  sooner  gained 
admittance  into  his  heart,  than  they  became 
the  occasion  of  his  humiliation  before  God. 
For  this  reason,  I  think,  none  of  his  brethren 
ever  found  it  necessary  to  reprove  him  for  self- 
sufficiency  or  stubbornness. 

“  He  was  peculiarly  anxious  to  maintain 
the  honor  of  the  missionary  character  among 
his  people,  and  to  shield  the  Christian  name 
from  reproach.  Wherever  he  went,  by  an¬ 
swering  objections,  exposing  calumnies,  and 
exhibiting  the  excellencies  of  the  religion  of 

Christ,  he  left  a  sweet  savor  to  the  honor  of 

# 


34 


MEMOIR  OF 


his  God,  and  the  great  benefit  of  his  Christian 
brethren.” 


It  should  be  remembered,  that  all  the  heathen 
are  in  as  wretched  a  condition  as  John  Arch 
was  before  his  acquaintance  with  the  mis¬ 
sionaries,  though  most  are  not  as  sensible 
of  it.  They  know  nothing  of  the  only  name 
given  under  heaven  among  men,  whereby  they 
can  be  saved.  Christ  says,  Go  preach  the  gos¬ 
pel  to  them  all,  that  these  captives  of  sin  may 
be  delivered. 

It  should  be  remembered,  too,  that  other 
heathen  may  be  regenerated  and  sanctified  by 
the  gospel,  as  well  as  he  who  is  the  subject  of 
this  memoir.  Yea,  hundreds  among  the  tribes 
of  our  western  wilderness,  and  many  thousands 
in  foreign  parts  of  the  pagan  world,  are  now 
members  of  the  Christian  church,  and  adorn 
their  profession.  The  preaching  of  the  gospel 
is  as  successful  in  heathen  lands,  as  it  is  in  lands 
called  Christian. 


JOHN  ARCH. 


35 

Finally,  it  should  be  remembered,  that  only 
a  few  districts  of  the  heathen  world,  in  com¬ 
parison  with  the  whole  number,  have  yet  been 
visited  by  the  missionary  of  the  cross.  The 
day  has  not  dawned  upon  the  great  mass  of  the 
six  hundred  millions  of  Pagans  and  Mohamme¬ 
dans.  Will  not  some  of  the  pious  youth  who  read 
these  pages,  consecrate  themselves  to  the  work  of 
missions  among  the  heathen,  and  educate  them¬ 
selves  with  a  view  to  that  service  ?  Many  others 
should  make  untiring  efforts  to  procure  the  ne¬ 
cessary  funds  for  supplying  the  heathen  with 
the  means  of  salvation.  The  missionary  and 
missionary  school,  with  school-books  and  the 
Scriptures  were  the  means,  in  the  hands  of 
God,  of  making  John  Arch  what  he  was  ;  and 
these  should  be  multiplied  till  every  one  of  the 
children  of  men  has  it  in  his  power  to  enjoy 
them.  Then  will  the  day  of  millennial  glory 
have  fully  risen  upon  the  world,  and  the  earth 
will  be  full  of  the  knowledge  and  love  of  God. 


